Buyer beware – that should really be the 2019 provincial election tag line because as Albertans we are definitely being bamboozled by one roadside political sideshow or another.
It is truly discouraging to see the pandering and dog whistle politics that have already invaded the interwebs and newsfeed on both sides. It seems as if Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party and Rachel Notley’s NDP are both running on the same platform – pointing at each other and declaring “we’re not them.”
Certainly running a campaign based on not being the other political party is not a novel approach to an election. It has worked before and will work again we are sure.
But what it really does is disrespects every single Albertan ready to engage in a dialogue on the future of our province and what role the provincial government has to play in its success or failure.
Until very recently, the UCP hasn’t provided the people is purports to represent its political platform for running the province. While tidbits trickle out at election speeches, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: their platform is to just undo everything the last government did.
Well, if Kenney, his local candidate or anyone from the UCP is interested, we think it is divisive, alienating and plain offside.
Here’s the thing. Whether you like the NDP or you don’t, they were voted in by Albertans and have spent the past several years working to improve the quality of life for people in this province.
Their efforts have been successful in some areas and unsuccessful in others – building a pipeline clearly a missed target in their term in office.
To erase what they have done after receiving enough support to be elected is spiteful and tosses aside the interests of many, who we might add are definitely paying attention to the discourse coming out of both camps and are making up their minds on who to vote for.
But the loudest people are often the ones most accommodated in politics, by the sheer fact that they are rude. Well it appears that in 2019 rudeness is what politics has become all about.
The NDP aren’t immune to this disease either. Do we as Albertans have a full 2019 election platform from our governing party yet?
Not quite, but what we do have is a lot of fear. Fear about what the UCP and Jason Kenney will do if elected. It is exhausting to constantly hope for leaders and those who claim to be public servants on the political stage to step it up and toss aside the rhetoric. Thanks for telling us what the other team is going to do if they win, but we would all much rather know more about what your team has planned.
The NDP don’t have a perfect record. No government ever has or ever will, because nobody and nothing is capable of perfection. But to suggest that undoing the work they have done is the right direction for the province would be foolish – many things have been accomplished under this government that are worthy of support from all political stripes.
This election has become about power and winning, not the future of Alberta. We are all expected to cast a vote sometime in the next several months and it is clear, Albertans should beware of the bill of goods they are being sold on both sides.
